gaunt

¹

[ gawnt ]

adjective

, gaunt·er, gaunt·est.

1. extremely thin and bony; haggard and drawn, as from great hunger, weariness, or torture; emaciated.

   Synonyms: rawboned, angular, lank, scrawny, spare, lean

   Antonyms: stout

2. bleak, desolate, or grim, as places or things:

   a gaunt, windswept landscape.

Gaunt

²

[ gawnt, gahnt ]

noun

1. John of. John of Gaunt.

gaunt

/ ɡɔːnt /

adjective

1. bony and emaciated in appearance
2. (of places) bleak or desolate

Derived Forms

• ˈgauntness, noun
• ˈgauntly, adverb

Other Words From

• gauntly adverb
• gauntness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of gaunt¹

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, probably from Old French gaunet, jaunet “yellowish,” derivative of gaune, jaune “yellow,” from Latin galbinus “greenish-yellow”

Word History and Origins

Origin of gaunt¹

C15: perhaps of Scandinavian origin; compare Norwegian dialect gand tall lean person

Synonym Study

See thin.

Example Sentences

If you know anything about Burton’s movies, you know that they tend to feature characters who embody all the qualities of a sickly Victorian-era child: waifish, sunken doe-eye and gaunt faces with a deathlike pallor.

From Salon

A video filmed on the day of his release shows a gaunt figure.

From BBC

A mouse stood there: tall, gray, gaunt, very upright.

From Literature

By then, he’d grown so gaunt and haggard-looking that makeup was sometimes applied to his face to give him a more robust look in public.

From Los Angeles Times

A few days later, “gaunt and frail,” he made a visit to the massive street mural in the newly renamed Black Lives Matter Plaza, near the White House.

From Seattle Times

Related Words

• angular
• emaciated
• thin